Former Rajya Sabha member and Kolhapur royal family scion Sambhaji Raje slammed Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar for his remark about Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and advised him not to give reaction on any historical event without studying it first.
NCP leader Pawar’s remark in the state Assembly last week that Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was not dharmveer (protector of religion) has drawn the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which termed it an insult. BJP activists staged protests condemning the remark in different parts of the state, including Pune, Nashik and Nagpur. Protestors raised slogans and burnt effigies of Pawar and demanded that he tender an apology or resign from his post as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly.
Talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, who is a descendent of Shivaji Maharaj, said, Ajit Pawar should specify in what context he made that kind of statement. I would like to tell him that no reaction to any historical event should be given without studying the topic. The statement made by Pawar was completely wrong and half-truth, he said.
He (Pawar) called Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj swaraj rakshak, which is right. But it is wrong to say that he was not a dharmveer, he said. Meanwhile, activists of the BJP staged protests in Pune city and other parts of the district. The party’s Pune city unit staged a protest in Deccan area and sought an apology from Pawar, while a similar agitation was held outside the NCP leader’s residence in Baramati.